Don’t Feed the Crazies

“There is mounting evidence that the President not only identifies with Muslims, but may actually still be one himself,” Frank Gaffney wrote yesterday.

When you publish things like that, you should not be given the opportunity to express your views on serious foreign policy issues in popular forums. Gaffney ought to be disqualified from being quoted in a mainstream news source ever again. The Washington Times, Commentary, National Review, and other right-wing rags don’t count, of course. Our side publishes the less-than-credible in our partisan outlets, too.

But what about USA Today’s op-ed page? Hardball with Chris Matthews? The Boston Globe? Politico? These are widely-disseminated news sources with a responsibility to the public. You can’t feature some old white guy just because he is willing to be provocative and say destructive things.

I’m not saying the Center or I are the be-all-end-all of analysts. We make mistakes and bad calls (CSAR-X sticks in my mind). But at least we try to base our research and recommendations in reality.

Stop quoting Frank Gaffney! He is not a serious analyst. If I read one quote from him on arms control negotiations in any of the big papers this year, I will lose a grip. I’d rather see John Bolton’s name than Gaffney’s. And that's saying something.